I am teary-eyed right now. I knew this would happen, but I didn't think it would be so soon. I was hoping he would push it to 50 years, or even until he passed on. But as long as he is happy about his decision.

i did not see this coming!!!this gives me the same feeling when YSL retired!i really think they are going to have a hard time to fill his shoes!but i have a feeling that valentino already knows whos going to take over.

MILAN (Reuters) - Valentino, one of the undisputed kings of fashion whose name is synonymous with elegance, will retire in January from the couture house he founded nearly half a century ago.
The 75-year-old said on Tuesday it was "the perfect moment to say goodbye to the world of fashion" after 45 years of dressing European royalty and Hollywood stars. Valentino Garavani is known the world over only by his first name.
"Valentino was and still is a great of the fashion world," said film star Sophia Loren, who often graced the front rows of his shows.
"His class, his talent ... have seduced the whole world," she said.
Valentino's signature scarlet evening gowns and conservative style have kept him a favorite for red carpet events, where he has dressed famous names like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Cate Blanchett and Julia Roberts.
"I have been lucky to have turned my teenage passion into my work ... and to retain my own style, despite the big changes in the world of fashion," Valentino said in a statement.
He held three days of parties in July to celebrate his 45 years as a couturier and had been widely expected to announce his retirement then.
"His goodbye to fashion is a sad event," said Rome deputy mayor Maria Pia Garavaglia, recalling the star-studded July parties that evoked memories of the Dolce Vita days in the 1960s when Italy's capital was known as "Hollywood on the Tiber."
Valentino said he was already working on the women's ready-to-wear collection to be displayed in Paris in October and a final haute couture show for January.
LAST GREATS
Valentino is widely ranked alongside Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld as the last of the great designers from an era before fashion became a global, highly commercial industry run as much by accountants and marketing executives as the couturiers.
His retirement comes amid a period of upheaval in the Italian fashion industry, with many of its biggest names seeking new owners to reap the benefits of an unprecedented boom for luxury goods from monogrammed luggage to designer gowns.
Valentino Fashion Group's new owners, the European private equity firm Permira, is rumored to want a younger, more commercially aware designer to help it expand into new markets.
Italian newspapers and industry sources have suggested former Gucci designer Alessandra Facchinetti is in the running.
Born in 1932 in Voghera in northern Italy, Valentino left his home country as a teenager to study fashion in Paris.
He opened a fashion house in Rome in 1959 with the backing of his father and an associate, who later pulled out because the designer was spending too much money.
Valentino and his long-time business partner Giancarlo Giammetti started a new company and his breakthrough came in 1962.

His return to Rome coincided with the start of an Italian film boom immortalized by "La Dolce Vita" when the comings and goings of actors and starlets were chronicled for the tabloids by motorcycle-riding paparazzi. (Additional reporting by Rachel Sanderson in London)
yahoo

^ I agree. Alessandra Fachinnetti (sp?) work for Gucci was REALLY bad, it was so tacky and she was trying to hard to keep it on the same level as Tom Ford's work. FW05 I can't imagine her designing for Valentino's aesthatic, because her own is very different especially with what she did with Gucci.

An audible gasp escaped my lips...during class. But this isn't surprising at all. Why is the announcement so close to fashion week, though? EDIT: And why is he having one more couture show? The last seemed like a good enough finale.

The deal with the new owners becomes finalized on 7 September. My guess is that Valentino has now signed off on his part in that transaction so he can announce his intention to resign, and that he has certain contractual obligations to fulfill - therefore, he has one more couture show etc.

The good news is that he says "My future will be filled with new interests and challenges. Some may be linked to fashion, as I have a strong desire to create and support institutions to promote the study of fashion design, and to preserve the history of the art of fashion. It will be a marvelous continuation of this amazing adventure that I had the privilege to have." in one of the posts from MMA above. Thanks, MMA, for bringing us all the up to the moment news!

__________________“Above all, remember that the most important thing you can take anywhere is not a Gucci bag or French-cut jeans; it's an open mind” Gail Rubin Bereny

that is so sad even though i saw it coming. the guy is not the youngest dude anymore and it had to happen (still sad)
i dont see a replacement although proenza biys pop into my mind instantly since valentino has a major stake now. but do i find it realistic? nope. i would also find valli much more suitable. he is classy and has kept that "old classic feel" in his collections
ODLR doesnt even cross my mind. he is possibly gonna retire soon himself

I'm so sad right now, he's such a brilliant designer and also seems like such a sweet little man. However, its best for him to go on the high he is on now, I would hate for him to be remembered as a has been designer

Tom Ford to the helm!, i WILL be in Paris this October for his last pret-a-porter show. Historic. He always retains a sense of elegance, poise, and a dignified air to his clothing and the woman who adorn them. Instantaneous class, when you wear Valentino is garanteed.